ForkTalk

31 March 2015

For those of you that remember my blog post on Spuntino, you'll know that "date night" with my school friends was supposed to be a monthly occurrence. Fast forward from November to March and we have - wait for it - our second (!) date night at this new Korean restaurant in Soho called Bo Drake.

It has taken me a while to decide whether I should blog this restaurant. It didn't wow me, and I kept comparing it to another new opening that I visited recently. We rocked up on a Thursday evening in the restaurant's second week of opening. We waited over an hour for our table although we were initially told it would be a 45 minute wait. Classic error. Waiters and waitresses should always over-estimate the queuing time so that the diners are pleasantly surprised when offered a table earlier than expected.

Nevertheless we were kept entertained by a lovely waitress. If any of you have read Gone Girl, this waitress was the definition of "cool girl." We were finally seated at the bar circa 9pm and were presented with this menu...

I was suitably miffed at this point. Everything we had planned to order was crossed off the menu and we weren't fully warned before we were seated. Bad form.We ordered what was left,..the Brisket Bao...

Mushroom Tostada...

Baby Chicken...

Bo Ssam...

and a special, the Kimchi Nachos...

The dim lighting in the restaurant didn't help my mood, or my photographs...

Bo Drake does display sparks of brilliance. But the sparks are quickly put out with the obvious teething problems that I have mentioned in this post.

To those of you that are excited by this restaurant, I hope I haven't put you off. The food is good. It's just that I have had better. To sum up my feelings in one expression..."meh." Give this restaurant a few months to settle, and we may be onto a winner.

To those of you looking for something similar, try Smoking Goat...snacky sticky Thai sharing plates in teeny tiny dark surroundings with a lovely drinks menu and an uber cool vibe. It also has a private dining area or "feasting room" at the back with a decently priced set menu.